With the exception of plunging Northeast citygates, softness was rather mild Thursday in other regions. Nearly all non-Northeast points ranged from essentially flat to down less than a dime. But several sources saw signs of much greater price weakness to come in today’s trading for the weekend.
Plunging
Articles from Plunging
Cash Expected to Follow Screen’s Plunging Lead
Wednesday’s cash market was almost a repeat of activity the day before, with flat to mildly higher numbers dominating across the board. Bet on a radical change from that staidness today, though. After AGA announced both a large upward revision of last week’s widely derided 3 Bcf storage injection figure plus a new increase that exceeded nearly all expectations, the screen responded with a dive of more than 30 cents.
California Border Is Sole Gainer Amid Overall Plunge
It was a no-brainer to predict Thursday’s plunging market. Amajority of price losses were between 80 cents and a dollar, aschilly but seasonally mild weather prevailed in most areas, thescreen continued to go south and traders perceived AGA’s Wednesdayafternoon storage withdrawal report of 167 Bcf as a below-parvolume.
Prices Keep Falling, But Not as Steeply as Before
While not plunging quite as steeply as the day before, pricesfor the weekend continued to record double-digit declines Friday.There was considerably more consistency across all markets than onThursday as virtually all points fell between 15 cents and about aquarter.
Texans Bake as Electricity Usage Hits Record
By today, a “cool” spell was expected to grip Texas, plungingtemperatures down to around 100. A nice respite from the 105-plustemperatures that stilled the state and sent electricity peak loadsto new records last week for the third time this year.
Cash Follows Plunging Script Dictated by Screen
After the screen had registered a plunge of 42 cents-plus theday before, it failed to surprise cash traders when their numbersalso fell big-time Tuesday. However, prices were trending higher astrading proceeded, largely due to futures that opened lower butrecovered to finish the day nearly a nickel higher.
Northeast Sees Big Descent; Mildly Higher Otherwise
The bloom was off the Northeast price rose Friday as weekendcitygate quotes began plunging back to earth. The non-Northeastmarket ranged from flat to a little more than a nickel higher.
Futures Slow to Recover from Storage Figures
After plunging almost a dime lower in response to alarger-than-expected storage injection Wednesday afternoon, thefutures market shuffled sideways yesterday in ahurricane-abbreviated trading session. Traders were unable to gleanmuch fundamentally positive out of a natural gas market that isfaced with mild temperatures and little or no hurricane activity inthe wake of Floyd. The October contract finished at $2.546, down8.2-cents from Wednesday’s close.
No Holiday Cheer for Producers in Plunging Prices
Producers must have thought the Grinch was stealing Christmasearly when they saw the abyss-like depths to which December swingprices were sinking Monday. “I’ve never seen it [the spot market]dump so hard in my life!” exclaimed a Midcontinent trader.